eternalsojourn

Okay, so I've been fucking around with makeup for awhile (again) because I'm 37 and I think it's time to shake things up again and learn some things. So I looked at a bunch of tutorials, bought some stuff and started messing around. I didn't use a tutorial for this particular technique: I more absorbed all the tutorials and then winged it when I bought this foundation I figured would work for that purpose.

So here's my 2nd attempt at contouring. I'm no expert obviously, but hopefully this also shows that it's not an expert's technique. It's kind of easy, and though my technique could be improved, I think early results are positive so the learning curve isn't that steep. Here we go.

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I was on facebook first thing in the morning and stumbled across a post by my sister linking to a story about Muhammed Ali and his daughters.



This is my sister posting this, thinking about how to discuss the issue with my nieces. While sometimes I might let this kind of thing go as it gets exhausting constantly calling everything into question on Facebook, I really felt a responsibility to say something for the sake of my nieces, and for my sister's sake. Because I know she grew up with the same ideals I did, and has internalized the same sexual and body shame I have. So here was my response:

No, I'm compelled to say something, because this is the sort of thing that sounds like wisdom but hides something darker underneath. And it's the attitude we all grew up with, and I think it needs challenging.

Women aren't diamonds or pearls or gold. We're people with minds and the power of choice. We are not our bodies; there's so much more to us than that. "Your body is sacred. You're far more precious..." So wait. I'm my body? That's all I am? A gem or an object to be literally uncovered if some prince of a man comes along and decides to treat me like a Tiffany bracelet instead of costume jewellery? How about someone who treats me like a human with a voice and a brain? A peer not a prize?

I have an idea for an alternative way of viewing "revealing" clothes". How about we teach our girls that clothes are THEIR choice? Whatever image they wish to project to the world, that's their choice. It can be strategy, it can be honed, it can be fun. Whatever else came out of The Hunger Games, I'm glad that Suzanne Collins chose to make fashion a political strategy, because it so often is. It's a tool people (see how I include women in the "people" category?) can use to set the tone for how people deal with them. It is not the sum total of who they are, nor should it be mistaken for that.

Underneath all of this well-meaning story of Muhammed Ali's advice is the notion that women are valued for their bodies and are the gatekeepers of sexual desire. An extension of that is the belief that men are mindless animals who evaluate women based on their clothes, and determine a woman's sexual availability and overall value by what they wear instead of just ASKING them about it. I don't know about you, but that whole notion is scary to me.

Let's teach our kids (boys and girls and all the shades of gendery grey around that false binary) some better messages. Maybe their generation can grow up without teaching women sexual shame in every aspect of what they do.

So that's it. I just wanted to capture this somewhere where it won't just disappear under a bunch of other mundane crap as it will on Facebook. If you have any input, I'd welcome an open discussion here.

My fic posting has slowed down somewhat. I just posted a reincarnation story for neomeruru's beautiful artwork for i-reversebang, and I'm pretty sure that's my last commitment for Inception fandom. Actually, it's probably my last commitment for any fandom for a good long while.

I will probably still work on some of the fics I have in progress, and continue to post those as they leave my fingers. I just don't think I have it in me to commit to anything in particular fandom-wise. I'm still on twitter, still on tumblr, still hanging around LJ and AO3. But I do believe it's time to strike out and work on some original works.

The past year and a half has been incredible for me. You guys inspired me to start writing, and with the help and encouragement of many, I've tried to stretch my wings a little to attempt things like the big bang and an actual mystery. The porn has been fun, and I will continue to write it into my stories, I think, but it's time to challenge myself further.

TL;DR - I'll sporadically produce more Inception fanfic, but not participate in fests or anything. I'm still around, and still up for flailing over all manner of things, but it's time to start writing my own original work.

As many of you know, I went to the hitRECord Fall Formal in Los Angeles on October 10, 2011. So while I was sorely neglectful in reporting back on the Seattle hitRECord at the Movies, I’ve vowed to myself that I will report back on this one.

( Long Rambling Thoughts Ahead — But with Pictures and Links to Video )

So, basically, ask me anything. Anything you think you ought to know about my life but don't, anything you're curious about, anything you fancy. Silly or serious.

I know I've said this isn't a journal so much as a place where I post my fic, but I'm in a sharing mood. I'm pretty open anyway, but go ahead and ask me anything. I'll just leave this without a deadline, because... why not, really?

Caught from physicsxmagic

ALSO! I got a pinboard account. I tend to keep my favourite fics saved there, though I'm not terribly thorough or super organized with it as it's only been for my own use so far. Everything there was imported from Delicious. Anyway, feel free to subscribe to me or whatever the social function is in pinboard: eternalsojourn at pinboard.